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uh it's a great to speak on behalf of
the kal I want to
thank Langanger who's the ro ky here for
many decades and we have a very close
family connection because my grandfather
was part of the kyo for many years and
he came to rabbi langanger's dafoi for
many years and he spoke very highly
about the ro kyel and he felt very it it
gave him a lot of kios after all the
years of serving the community to be
able to come back to Kyle and to learn
Gamarra and to learn with Lamdus, you
know, it gave him a lot of kios. So if
you would kindly share some of your
memories of our grandfather who was uh
one of the pillars of the Pittsburgh
community Is
that
this?
Okay. I was to get to know R of
Gladstein well uh when he retired. I
think he was in his late 80s. He wasn't
really ready to retire at that time
because he was only like 88 or so. But
he was uh in to retire. He agreed to
retire. Glastine was a very very
important figure, influential figure in
the community for many decades before
that. But I didn't I didn't really know
him then. Um but in the years that we
was able to see him and get to know him
um till he left Pittsburgh at the age of
102 and he finally agreed to leave and
got to stay by his children in New York.
Um it it was really um I I I used to
think to myself that here in America we
have very very few role models who
carried on the Messiah and lived the
lives and and the spirit uh of what
people lived in pre-war Europe and be
able to see how learn from them learn
from their their perspective and the way
that they live their life and Radstein
was really an amazing person. really
into his his his 80s and into his 90s.
You know, he would just every single day
he would come to the sheer rain or show
show snow or sle or hail. When he was in
his 90s already, the balabatum leroy
Harris and others would have to pick him
up from his house. But there was no such
thing as missing. It was impossible and
unimaginably he should miss a day of the
daff and and the shakist afterwards and
saying the kadesh for the kadoshim that
he would say and he would run up the
stairs. No matter what the weather, he
would run right up the everybody was
scared, you know, looking at him a man
in his mid '9s like running up the
stairs. But you know he had the there
was no reason to like he had an amazing
amazing resiliency. There was no such
thing as giving in to age or giving in
to inclement weather or anything like
that. Um his resiliency was just
astounding and really amazing to see. I
used to watch him. He was he would sit
um in the co uh he sat really right in
front of me really. Um and Kipper really
in into his mid 90s I would say to a
good 95 or so he would uh stand uh the
entire shaker and then the
entire I saw it myself so this is not
some exaggeration. He would just put to
shame people like a third or a quarter
his age. Um you know because there was
no such thing with him of giving into
circumstances and and it was really that
he he lived the the spirit. I I heard
from him many times um you know how the
the the kadesh was so important for him
to say because he would hear the cries
of the people going into the crematoria
who would say who's going to say kadesh
for me and he um dedicated himself at
that time that he was going to be there
for the kadoshim and he would say the
kadesh for them and it was a tremendous
thing even really um until he was about
90 or so um I would say like every time
we learn the daff and the maf would
quote a he could recite fluently by part
I think it was the bartan he knew it all
on the spot that I was told that that
was the um that he got in obviously was
a very standard then but it's a
different and it was uh you know
obviously than what today and it was a
very very interesting thing to learn to
see the spirit and the stamina um and
you know to see how was lived because
you have to see that and you have we we
have to uh know you know how you once
upon a time the enthusiasm and the
spirit that they lived their life and we
have to be able to carry that on. So I
just want to say um I remember I
remember uh we were getting the damir
and after the shir it was the day that
got his um I guess he had gotten the day
before. So everybody gave um gladstein
the maz that his ankle had gotten and he
was beaming you know loy I think that
was the expression I think I don't say
it exactly in but that was a loy that's
how he said it got loy what is loyen is
praise I think so it was and there was
he took tremendous pride um and it's our
it's really our very very special thing
for us to be able to host of the over
here and uh kind of closes the circle of
generations to bring him back in over
here of Gladstein was a tremendous uh
tremendous figure in town for so many
years and this in
seeing the way that that spirit of
Gladstein embodied all of those years uh
you know carried on and
wish that he should be able to be and to
carry on that and to give over
and thank
